Right now I have a ten gallon set up with a heater, filter and live plants only with sand. In the tank is a male betta and my mystery snail. I want to get a bottom feeder because the tank has a tendency of getting cloudy due to the algae wafers I feed my snail. (I know ppl say you don't have to, but in the past when I didn't they died, and this one so far has grown very much and I plan on keeping it that way.) So basically what I'm looking for is something that will eat up the extra algae wafers and debris from the snail and fish (if that parts possible. I know I can't avoid substrate cleaning once in a while.) Would you say I'm better off going with a pleco, some cory catfish or maybe an oto? I'm thinking pleco just because of my bettas temperament. Basically what will do what I need best? Thanks.

Also I don't feed my snail that often or that much. Maybe a whole algae wafer per week broken up into pieces every few days. And it refuses to eat vegetables, I've tried.

small fry

12-17-2010 06:43 AM

Don't get the common pleco! Those will outgrow a 65g tank! I've seen some well over 2 feet long.

Normally, I would recomend pygmy cories but you said your betta has temperment problems? I would be abit worried haveing a school of fish 3/4" long with an angry betta. I have heard of plecos that only get about 4 inches long, that my be too much for a 10g tank, I don't know (I also don't know the species).

Some people use shrimp, but I am not actually sure how much algae they eat. If your betta is has temprement problems (as many do lol), he'll probably eat the shrimp the day you put them in there.

Maybe someone else can suggest something?

aunt kymmie

12-17-2010 07:22 AM

IMHO any of the smaller species of pleco (Bristlenose, Pit Bull, Rubber Lip, etc) are still too large for a 10 gl tank.
As far as shrimp, no matter the temperament of the betta, they can and will eat shrimp, if the shrimp(s) are able to fit into their mouths.
I once tried to house my peaceful, way mellow betta with RCS. I placed an order for 25 shrimp, added them to the tank and sat back to enjoy watching the little shrimp get to work. Instead what I watched was my betta dust off 20 shrimp within an hour. They are skilled hunters when they want to be. It was amazing to watch, as he would move ever slow slowly until he was within striking range and then "BAM!", unsuspecting shrimp gone. So much for my idea of keeping my betta with shrimp.

I kept this same Betta in a tank with Otos, no problem, but like I said, he was a VERY peaceful betta. He almost never even flared. (Man, I miss that fish) I think Otos can do well with bettas but Otos require pristine water conditions and many of them can be so picky about their diet they end up starving to death. Starving otos are very common, unfortunately. My otos will never touch algae wafers, but they will munch on spinach leaves.

Does your betta not bother with your Mystery snail? If he leaves the snail alone maybe you can try one of the larger type shrimp? I agree with small fry on the pygmy cories, as they have a tendency to shoal around in the mid level water strata and that would most likely "bother" your betta. Even my mellow betta probably would have been disturbed by the activity level of pygmys.
Good luck with your decision.

Christople

12-21-2010 11:12 PM

I highly suggest ottos . they are peaceful fish... I cant say what your betta will do though. Good luck:-P

tanker

12-21-2010 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD3P
(Post 536444)

once in a while.

How often are you cleaning your gravel/changing your water? There really is no alternative to sucking the gunk up and out. My snails do quite big poo and nobody else is going to eat that. Getting otos isn't going to increase the time between water changes (if that's what you are hoping for) because they'll want the tank really clean (as does your betta).

Are you sure your snail won't eat vegetables? I mostly feed mine carrots. They don't come rushing over to eat and there aren't huge hunks taken out of it, but they do eat it (mostly at night, I think). They don't demolish whole hunks, but they do eat bits of it.

Between weekly gravel vacs, you can suck up bits of poo or uneaten wafers with a turkey baster. I've also got a vacuum-cleaner thingy which is good for that, but it was expensive for what it is and does, and it's not an alternative to siphoning out the muck.

I had a bad experience putting cory habrosus with one of my bettas (a "nice" one). I wouldn't risk it again.

jeaninel

12-22-2010 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanker
(Post 540033)

How often are you cleaning your gravel/changing your water? There really is no alternative to sucking the gunk up and out. My snails do quite big poo and nobody else is going to eat that. Getting otos isn't going to increase the time between water changes (if that's what you are hoping for) because they'll want the tank really clean (as does your betta).

+1 :thumbsup:

My Mystery snail used to camp on veggies and algae wafers and was very effective for cleaning up extra fish food and algae. But yeah, they are big poopers. There's no substitute for a good gravel vacuuming.

tanker

12-22-2010 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeaninel
(Post 540100)

they are big poopers.

I feed mostly carrots because they don't mess up the tanks so much and consequently the snails do orange poo. I can tell what's snail poo and what's leftover food...if they were eating algae wafers all the time, I can imagine that it would be difficult to tell the difference between leftover food and snail poo.

The Game

12-22-2010 05:06 AM

yea i know this has very little relevance to the topic but once i kept a regular snail, not an aquatic one, and i feed it a slice of orange. The next day, I found its poop and it was bright neon orange.

Christople

12-25-2010 06:53 PM

I hate how fats the poop covers up the sand in my tan... thankfully moved some fish so now just got to wait to the water change day. Sucking up the poop is a need and should be done every water change